Seizure of unaccounted cash, gifts and liquor has crossed a record Rs 111 crore in Telangana where polling for the assembly elections will be held on December 7. The state election commission has requested voters in the state to exercise their franchise wisely.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, Rajat Kumar, highlighted the money-mafia role and added that people should not be swayed away by such gestures.
The state election chief said: ’The gravity of situation is such that even with a week before the polling, cash seizure has gone up to Rs 104 crore which is Rs 28 crore higher than the overall amount seized during the full period in last elections.
He appealed voters to not accept any kind of bribe and refuse if any one offers cash.
The police department has seized Rs 71.67 crore so far in the state; the I-T department has seized Rs 22.50 crore, totalling to Rs 94.17 crore. Election enforcement teams also seized gold, silver and other expensive items worth Rs 7.77 crore.
It is worth mentioning that the police department also seized a large quantity of liquor amounting to Rs 9 crore. Meanwhile, police on Monday (December 3) sized Rs 70 lakh cash in Hyderabad, Rs 50 lakh in Mancherial and Rs 5.8 crore cash from Jangaon that falls under the Warangal district.
Police and election commission officials are suspecting the role of the mafia behind the recent illegal cash transactions and liquor trade right before the elections. In view of the situation, they have requested the citizens in Telangana to cast their vote wisely.
The Telangana assembly polls were initially scheduled to take place along with next year’s Lok Sabha election.
However, K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR as the chief minister of the state is popularly known, prematurely dissolved the assembly setting the state on course for an assembly election.
While Congress and the KCR’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are the main contenders to take control of the 119-seat assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also put up an impressive campaign to disrupt proceedings.
Voting will take place in Telangana on December 7. Counting of votes for the state assembly election will be held on December 11.